Reaching Great Heights
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) has four new staffers, two of whom apparently have had some issues with their high-heeled shoes.
[IMGCAP(1)]The first week Kate Thompson, a new legislative correspondent for Gohmert, came to work on the Hill, she found herself skedaddling down an escalator in a pair of lofty kicks.
While on the escalator, Thompson tripped, and actually fell into Rep. Sam Johnson, also a Texas Republican.
“The shock had set in enough for me to apologize and blame it on the stupid heels that girls have to wear,” Thompson said. “He laughed and offered me his shoes for prevention against me running into anyone else.”
Chastine Hulsey has also joined Gohmert as a legislative correspondent, and she shares more than a title with Thompson. Heels were the culprit in Hulsey’s most embarrassing moment on the Hill, too.
“I ate the ground in my slippery high heels as I was walking down the marble steps in the Capitol from the House gallery,” she told Climbers.
“The Capitol Police got a good laugh that day,” she joked.
Nevertheless, the ladies are still very much alive and, uh, kicking, in Gohmert’s office, taking charge of constituent care “with a smile,” according to Thompson. The Houston native certainly has the experience to do it. She was an executive assistant/recruiter at The Midtown Group in downtown Washington, D.C., and a faculty adviser at the Junior National Young Leaders Conference. She is also a Hoop Dreams 3-on-3 Tournament volunteer coordinator, and she is on the Taste of the South Committee.
[IMGCAP(2)]Thompson, 24, earned a degree in 2006 from Texas A&M University, where she majored in communications and minored in business. Her goals include a career in government relations for a law firm.
In her spare time, she enjoys digging her heels in to play kickball.
Hulsey, from Fort Worth, Texas, has a degree in political science from Texas A&M University, which she earned in 2007. She was an intern for Reps. Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Rodney Alexander (R-La.).
Hulsey, 23, was also a staff assistant/legislative correspondent for Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.). Her goals include working for the International Justice Mission and the State Department in the International Affairs office, “by reaching out to and helping rescue countless people from international human trafficking through government reform.” She also wants to build her “own home for women and children victims of human trafficking,” and she wants to be “a wife and mother.”
Hulsey is a member of the Texas State Society and the National Capital Texas A&M Club. She attends Frontline Arlington church and is a fan of the Dallas Mavericks and the Texas A&M basketball team.
Emily Arciniega is the new staff assistant for Gohmert, with a bachelor’s degree in sport management and a double minor in business and communications from Texas A&M University. She earned that degree in 2007.
Arciniega, 23, is from Tyler, Texas.
She claims to have no embarrassing moments on the Hill as of yet.
“I’ve only been here for two months, so nothing too embarrassing has happened yet. Give it about one more month and I’ll have a story,” she said.
Climbers is waiting.
Last but not least, Theresa Wang, a Los Angeles native, has joined Gohmert as a legislative counsel. Wang, 26, has a bachelor’s degree in political science and east Asian studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a law degree from Baylor Law School. She earned those degrees in 2004 and 2007, respectively. Wang was admitted to the Texas State Bar in May 2007.
She previously worked for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Homeland Security Department, and for Cowles & Thompson, a law office based in Dallas.
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